Another item for Sandy’s list of Harper accomplishments – The Harper Government will be introducing tougher laws for products bearing the label "Product of Canada" labelling. And if the opposition gets on board, then it will be their accomplishment as well. (CTV – Harper Announces Changes to Canadian Food Labels .)
Ever since I saw CBC’s Marketplace episode, "Product of Canada, eh?" , I’ve been very skeptical of buying any processed food labeled "Product of Canada". Watch the clip and you’ll see why.
Now, instead of being able to say that their product is a ‘Product of Canada’ if "51 per cent of production costs were incurred here and the final transformation of the product was in Canada", manufacturers will have to be more honest and accountable:
…Under the new rules, a "product of Canada" label will mean that virtually all of the contents are Canadian in origin.
Harper said the new labels would reflect whether some of the ingredients in a Canadian-made product come from another country.
This is excellent news for the Canadian consumer, good news for the environment and great news for the Canadian food industry.
Read the comments at the end of the CTV article. This is a winning policy and most people are saying that it’s about time!
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Update : And this just isn’t fair…
I rarely buy processed food, but when I do, I stick to products I trust. Little did I know that apple juice could be apples from chemical happy China! I really like knowing what chemicals might be present in what I feed my kids, that’s why it’s homemade night every night but Friday in our house.
His speech is well worth listening to, and his question and answer segment is even better. Imagine outside of Ottawa, reporter’s are actually respectful, I even heard one call PM Harper, “sir”! No wonder he likes getting out of the Liberal polluted MSM Parliamentary press in Ottawa.
…and his question and answer segment is even better.
Good point, Hunter! He seemed very relaxed. Link here.
Hunter…….I am assuming that you are not a farmer (large scale), and you live in a city. If this is the case, can I ask where you are shopping for your food? Are you stocking up at farmers markets? Is there a good website you can direct me to?
I live in Mississauga, I actually just came back from price chopper, it breaks my heart to see all the cancer causing crap people think is food which they throw into their carts, I made an estimation that only about 5-10% of the things in packages could be considered decent food.
Any advice would be appreciated. I am patiently praying that the lord provide a wife who is open to starting up a farm with me. It seems thats the way things need to go.
…it breaks my heart to see all the cancer causing crap people think is food which they throw into their carts
Isn’t that the truth? I can’t believe the amount of sugary, fattening goop that people throw into their carts.
I try to select food products that are as unprocessed as possible – Fresh produce (in season), fresh meat (not processed entrees), fresh fish, wholegrain bread…
Convenience foods only in an an emergency. And even with frozen pizza, you can choose a chicken or veggie one and then add some fresh tomatoes and whatever else is in the fridge.
We can now chock this up to Harper’s list of accomplishments.
How many is that in total actually Sandy?
This is exactly the right time to keep score.
I love eating crap. Chocolate covered raisins are the best.
This is progress. Hopefully upon implementation (what’s the timeline?), the new rules will have some teeth. I saw that Marketplace episode (there is some good investigative journalism in this country people) and the Product of Canada fish industry is freaking ridiculous. It was like farmed in China and frozen in Canada or something along those lines, and labelled Pr. of Can. Unbelievable, actually.
I would think this is something positive all parties can support.
Babylonian Says:
May 21st, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Hunter…….I am assuming that you are not a farmer (large scale), and you live in a city. If this is the case, can I ask where you are shopping for your food? Are you stocking up at farmers markets? Is there a good website you can direct me to?
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Oh dear, Babylonian, I’m not sure I can list everything I do that is chemical free. If you want more details than I give you here, email me (listed at my site) and I will give you all the tips and recipes, I can.
Here’s a start. Yes I live in Edmonton, but I have a big yard. Why have lawn when you can have your own garden? We planted our garden last weekend, this will feed us all summer, nothing like a carrot fresh out of your own garden! No chemicals are ever used in my yard. I collect rain water into 4, 55 gallon containers. I compost year round. With the excess produce, I make my own pickles, pickled beets, and spagetti sauce (this gets frozen and used all winter), I make my own bread, perogies, and cinnamon buns. I even make my own raspberry wine (water, sugar, yeast). I dream of having a small farm, with an old fashioned cafe, serving only fresh veggies.
In the winter, farmer’s markets supply what we need, and if you have contact with farmer’s you can get your meat from them.
But what it all boils down to is: eat what is natural, like butter, not margarine. Some baby food lasts over 2 years in a jar, what does that tell you? Chemicals. Milk To Go, lasts months on the shelf, how? Chemicals.
Just use common sense, and throw out your microwave.
[...] he’s giving his toddler really comes from Canada even though it’s labeled as "Product of Canada [...]
[...] that has any redeeming value at all (IMHO). Witness the relevancy regarding the recent "Product of Canada " announcements regarding consumer food [...]